A Brief of History of the Malvar Guerrilla Forces - Batangas History, Culture and Folklore A Brief of History of the Malvar Guerrilla Forces - Batangas History, Culture and Folklore

A Brief of History of the Malvar Guerrilla Forces

Batangas History
30 Dec, 2017

The President Quezon’s Own Guerrillas (PQOG) was a guerrilla organization that operated in Luzon, including Batangas, during the Japanese occupation. The organization had many units in Batangas Province, including the Municipality of Malvar. In this municipality, the unit was formed and commanded by one Wenceslao Cornejo. In this document1 is contained a brief history of the organization and activities of the Malvar Guerrilla Forces submitted as part of the group’s application for official recognition as an element of the Philippine Army in the service of the United States Armed Forces during the liberation period.

Guerrilla Files

[p. 1]

A. R. F
Auxiliar Reconquering Forces
of the
U.S. Forces in the Philippines

P. Q. O. G.
(Under Brig. Gen. Wendell W. Fertig)
(0254976)
Luzon Free Philippines

Malvar Unit Guerrilla Forces

Brief History of Organization and Activities:

This organization of the guerrilla forces in the town of Malvar, Province of Batangas, came into being on December 6, 1942, as an initial move of the underground resistance against the Japanese Forces. At first, I gathered trusted and confidential men around me and swore them to strict secrecy. We then started clandestine meetings in the remote barrios and inducted men to this perilous and dangerous game and enterprise. Once, for some months, we took care and nursed to health and strength some American pilots, right under the very noses of the Japanese soldiers in our town, whom we found in the outlying skirts of our town, almost dying of hunger and illness. To date, we have letters, testimonials of what we have done — of the sacrifices we have made, only to give life and hope to these momentary unfortunates. When the news of liberation came to us, we helped and guided the civilian population of the town to remote and yet safe evacuation places. Then, when the whole town was cleared of the people, we started waylaying Japanese soldiers – burned their warehouses and stores of ammunition. We mined the streets and blew up Japanese Army trucks, loaded sometimes with

[p. 2]

soldiers, and at other times, with ammunition and food, or stolen cows and carabaos. We were then very short of arms and ammunition, even at the inception of this organization. Very few of my men were armed, but with the little that we had and the strong faith and belief of the aid to come, we did our best during the last days of the murderous occupation of the Japanese Army, to cause havoc and chaos among them.

This may be a self-styled organization, but [what] we did were all done for a common cause — a cause for which other brother organizations had been created — a spirit for which eighteen million souls have felt.

And now, we seek what others have sought and found — a dressing of our hardships and tribulations, that our strong faith and belief since and now in an unequalled democratic justice of America and the American people shall stand and long endure, although, dressing or no dressing, we shall not falter and waver in that strong belief in the great principles of democracy which America has always stood for and for which other liberty-loving people of this universe have fought and died for.

[Sgd.] WENCESLAO L. CORNEJO
Lt. Col.
Malvar Unit Guerrilla Forces
Malvar, Batangas
Notes and references:
1 “Malvar Grla Forces, I Corps, PQOG,” File No. 271-27, downloaded from PVAO.
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